Israeli Herons give intelligence to PKK, intelligence officers say

According to reports by Turkish intelligence agencies, Heron unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) operated by Israel that have been observed in Hatay and Adana provinces in recent months spied for the terrorist Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK).

Turkish intelligence agencies prepared a report after the detection of two Israeli Herons in Hatay and Adana roughly two months ago, claiming that the Herons are collecting intelligence on Turkish military units in order to aid PKK operations in those regions.

The report asserts that the PKK's training camps in northern Syria, near Turkey's Hatay border “where Turkish military border posts are relatively weak” were established in those locations based on intelligence collected by the UAVs.

The report also claims that Kenan Yıldızbakan, a PKK member who commanded an assault against a Turkish naval base in İskenderun in 2010, has made repeated trips into Israeli territory, reinforcing suspicions of a possible link between Israeli and the PKK.

A rocket attack by PKK terrorists on the naval base killed seven soldiers and wounded six others in the southern province of Hatay's İskenderun district in June 2010.

In a related development, phone conversations between Mehmet Veysi Dilekçi and Mesude Yasak recently intercepted during investigations into the KCK, included discussions relating to Israeli support for the PKK. Dilekçi and Yasak, who were arrested during a Turkish operation against the KCK in December in Siirt, mentioned a convoy of 400 trucks supplying aid to the PKK that was sent by an Israeli civil society organization -- which was identified as Hae Anshei Targum in the Star daily-- in 2010.

The Kurdish Communities Union (KCK) is a political umbrella organization that allegedly includes the PKK.